[[LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD This series]] more or less runs on RuleOfCool, features [[WorldOfBadass some of the most badass characters you'll see in a light novel]], [[CoolVersusAwesome angels, fallen angels, devils and other mythology beings all clashing against each other]], and what have you. Pack yourself a sandwich, you'll be here for a while.

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[[folder: Occult Research Club]]!!The Occult Research Club as a whole is more or less a BadassCrew and it shows.[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Issei ]]

* Seeing as Issei is the protagonist of the series, he's bound to at least have one per volume.** He starts off his chain of awesome with defeating Raynare with his first real use of the [[MagikarpPower Boosted Gear]].** He gets his second big one when he [[EngagementChallenge crashes Riser and Rias' wedding.]] Considering that Riser has been a {{Jerkass}} the entire volume, seeing Issei use [[SuperMode Balance Breaker]] for the first time to [[CurbstompBattle pound his face in]], then [[CrazyPrepared use his newly]] [[PowerAtAPrice ''dragonified arm'']] [[CrazyPrepared to use a cross and holy water]] against Riser was sweet vindication.*** He's running on ''borrowed time'' too when he fights him.** In volume three, he gives and epic ShutUpHannibal at Kokabiel when the latter tries tempting him to join the fallen angels. Too bad his rival stole the spotlight for defeating Kokabiel.** When he first invokes [[TheDragonslayer Ascalon]] to give Gasper blood so that the kid vampire could control his Sacred Gear. Plus when he uses Ascalon's [[KryptoniteFactor strength against Dragons]] to punch Vali and wound him repeatedly. And this was after he was channeling it through his own Dragon arm!** The fourth one gets him to curb-stomp his rival in anger when the latter pushes his BerserkButton. Though it was obvious that Vali was definitely holding back against him.** Also, if you count using subs, during that fight Issei Boosted his power over [[AmplifierArtifact 35]] times!** Vol 5 has Issei learn to activate his full Balance Breaker on his own, and uses it to own Kuroka, preventing her from taking Koneko. The anime shows this well: with one punch, he ''annihilated'' the entire area behind Kuroka, without touching her at all - and the only reason she was spared was because he was allowing it. Should she cross them again, however, he makes clear that he wouldn't hold back.*** He also unveils [[PowerPerversionPotential Billingual]], and tears [[ChessMaster Sona Sitri's]] plan to pieces.** Volume 6 has two:*** Issei absolutely ''destroying'' Diodora Astaroth after when the latter threatens to [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape Asia]], and then saving Asia from being killed to nuke the leaders of all three factions by using Dress Break.*** Shalba teleports Asia to the Dimensional Gap, where she will surely die. Issei's response to this? Activating Juggernaut Drive (an ability that literally transforms the user into an unstoppable dragon form) for the first time in the series. Even more impressive is that this isn't even the complete transformation.** In the seventh volume, he gets ''Mjölnir!'' And he uses it to bash Loki with the combined power of the recently-resolved father-daughter-problem when they cast lightning on Mjölnir.** In volume nine, the party is losing to the Hero Faction, and Kunou's mom is about to be used to summon Great Red. Then Issei activates [[GameBreaker Illegal Move Trident]] for the first time, and nearly kills Cao Cao with the first three forms. And when Cao Cao and the others retreat from Issei and the absurdly powerful Son Wukong, Issei shoots Cao Cao [[BoomHeadshot in the eye.]]** Volume 10: ''[[EmpoweredBadassNormal Illegal Trident Cardinal Crimson Queen Issei]] [[CoolVersusAwesome Versus]] [[BadassNormal Regulus Nemea-equipped Sairaorg.]]'' Probably the most {{HSQ}} fight of the entire series, comparable to the [[Manga/MahouSenseiNegima Negi VS Rakan fight]].*** To put this into perspective, [[WordOfGod Ichiei Ishibumi]] was ''itching to write this fight.''*** He fights off his predecessors MadnessMantra to activate [[spoiler:Juggernaut Drive]] by ''making up'' a BadassCreed on the spot.*** Before that, there was Issei's... [[CurbStompBattle fight]]... with Kuisha Abaddon. He was already mad about seeing his comrades lose, and she decided [[SmugSnake taunting him]] was a [[IdiotBall good idea]]. The fight was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. Sairaorg didn't even give Kuisha a chance, he recalled her because he realized the instant Issei reached her she would ''DIE''.** Volume 11: His second CurbStompBattle against Shalba Beelzebub, and also delivering a ReasonYouSuckSpeech that utterly gives Shalba a VillainousBreakdown.** Volume 12: He becomes ''Series/{{Ultraman}} huge'' when he comes BackFromTheDead and proceeds to wipe out the most powerful Annihilation Maker's monster, the same monster that ''ultimate-class devils'' couldn't even ''scratch'' at all. And the only he needed assistance from Grayfia and the rest of the Lucifer team to lift it up so he can blast it out of the way is so that there wouldn't be any ''casualties''.*** Although his own powers had nothing to do with it, as he was borrowing from Great Red. More of an awesome moment for Great Red really.** How he defeats Cao Cao is the same way [[CallBack how he defeats Riser]]. Not by power, but by using his brain for a bit. He baits him by telling him as to what he has in his hands (the Switch Princess doll that apparently can fire off its breasts like a toy gun), loads a bullet he found at the Dimension Gap, and fires it at Cao Cao. The latter easily slices off the bullet unaware that there was some sort of liquid inside of it. [[BatmanGambit Turns out, said liquid was Samael's blood that Issei had when he tasted it from Shalba's arrow.]]** How he curb stomps Jeanne after injecting herself ''a second Chaos Break'' injection when one was already dangerous but makes her even more powerful. Just apply the good ol' Dress Break on her and ''her entire armor shatters'' and blasts her with one his attacks. And this is where ''he's just a resurrected humanoid dragon ''without his evil pawn pieces''.*** Oh, and he gets to solve ''all'' of his club members' DarkAndTroubledPast baggage, something Sona notes as an accomplishment.** Befriending ''and'' becoming the son of both Great Red ''and'' Ophis, ''two of the strongest beings of the entire series'' counts as this.** In Volume 14, he borrowed a page of awesome from [[Manga/OnePiece Luffy.]] Specifically by [[spoiler: making his right hand turn into a dragon by extending it and punches a magician who has a high level barrier with ease.]]** His DavidVersusGoliath fight with Grendel. Being able to keep up with a LightningBruiser dragon is practically awesome.** Volume 17 gives us [[spoiler: Issei's full powered AttackDrones by combining both Red and White wyvern powers and manages to corner Euclid with it.]]** And then he finishes the battle by using his wyverns to externally boost his power in order to use [[spoiler: Longinus Smasher]].** After getting some sprinkles of badassery in volume 16 and 17, his new ability, Penetrate, more than makes up for it. [[spoiler: He ''literally beats the crap out of Rizevim who can't nullify Penetrate'']].** Volume 20. [[spoiler: Nidhoggr didn't even stand a chance at the brutal beatdown he gave him.]]*** And then later, [[spoiler: his parent's acceptance of the fact that he's a dragon and a devil allows up to finally unleash Ophis's infinite power and unlock his ultimate form: Diabolos Dragon. He then proceeds to deliver a long-awaited CurbStompBattle against Rizevim.]]** Volume 21. [[spoiler: Despite the risk of dying, he uses Diabolos Dragon a second time to fight against Apophis, finishing him off with his new form's Infinity Blaster, followed immediately by a Longinus Smasher.]]*** And immediately afterwards, [[spoiler: he teams up with Sirzechs in order to fight Trihexa's core.]]** The ''EX'' sidestory [[spoiler: has [[FutureBadass 30 years later Issei]] showing up ''as a dragon!'' He first shows up using the mechanical arm of a being that is equivalent of a god to ''pick his nose''. He then ''one-shots'' a battleship god and its entire armada.]]* Then of course, there's the anime moments.** Defeating Raynare- this time though, doing a DestinationDefenestration in the process.** Before that, [[KickTheSonOfABitch both times he punched Freed in the face]]. Dude had those coming.** Then in Episode 10, ''he breaks Mira's staff with his'' '''bare human hand'''. It hurt him a little, but that makes it no less awesome.** His fight with Riser, where Issei's transformation into his incomplete Balance Breaker is ''fully'' animated, in all of it's glory!*** The ''entire'' TransformationSequence could count as an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOB5whBRFaY&feature=related awesome moment for TNK.]] It must be seen to be believed.** And of course, his first fight with Vali, particularly where Issei overloads Vali's wings by giving them more energy than they can handle.*** The real awesome moment is when he ''absorbed Albion's powers'', which Ddraig stated that it was a MillionToOneChance of it happening. because Albion's powers work against Ddraig's. But with the combination of Issei and Ddraig's resolve being in perfect sync, they achieve it together as true partners, and [[ThisCannotBe Albion is in complete shock as a result.]]--->'''Issei:''' Respond to what I'm feeling and do your worst!\\'''Ddraig:''' ''Vanishing Dragon! Power is Taken!''*** Meta example: The fact that Creator/FumihikoTachiki actually got to shout Boost non-stop for ''12 seconds without running out of breath'' is just awesome. And not only him; Creator/ChristopherSabat as well for the dub's version.** The sheer CatharsisFactor of Issei's NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Diodora in the anime - the enraged Issei gut-punches him hard enough to [[BloodFromTheMouth cough up blood]], smashes his face in, Boosts himself roughly ''thirty times'' to overcome a barrier and uppercut him into the ceiling, and adds ''another twenty'' Boosts onto that for their final 'struggle'. Said struggle being Dragon Shot vs everything Diodora had... Dragon Shot pierced through in a ''millisecond, destroyed the wall inches from his face, and leveled a mountain-sized landmark in the process.''-->'''Issei:''' I don't care what happens to me, '''NO ONE MAKES ASIA CRY!'''* Even the 'Boost' ability gets insane, light novels or anime, when you realize just how much doubling your power when Issei does it ''over and over'' '''really is'''. Issei's first fight against Vali ultimately has him Boost over 35 times in a row as stated above - an impressive feat equaling ''34.3 BILLION times his normal power.''** Then his fight against Diodora involves a cumulative total of 50 Boosts [[note]] 1.12 Quadrillion (10-to-15th power) [[/note]].** [[SerialEscalation Then Issei's (incomplete) Juggernaut Drive powered up 100+ Boosts for it's ultimate attack,]] [[ChestBlaster Longinus Smasher]] [[note]] 1.3 Nonillion (10-to-30th power), at the very least [[/note]]. [[HolyShitQuotient And not only is Issei getting stronger, the strongest beings in-story - Ophis and Great Red - could destroy Juggernaut Drive with ''fractions'' of their full power.]]* In the EX sidestory, Issei was absent from the plot, made especially odd since the enemy targeted [[spoiler:Asia]], his biggest BerserkButton. Then he shows up at the end and reveals he [[spoiler:[[OneManArmy single-handedly slaughtered all of the other God-class enemies in the enemy faction]] while his children and past self were busy with ''one''.]]** [[RuleOfCool And for no particular reason]], he does all this as [[spoiler: ''a fifty foot long dragon.'']]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kiba ]]

* He gets an overall one for actually being able to keep up with [[CrazyAwesome Issei]] throughout the series. To put that in perspective: his training with Issei involves Issei ''trying to deliberately kill him'' just to make the both of them stronger.** He is the first in Rias' group to reach [[SuperMode Balance Breaker]], and it lets him make [[YinYangBomb holy-demonic swords]]. [[RealityBreakingParadox Which can't actually exist in reality.]]*** It later turns out he acquired a SECOND Sacred Gear at the same time. Which is at Balance Breaker the first time he uses it.** He [[CurbStompBattle one-shots]] Freed, turned into a chimera, in Volume 6 ''then'' impales his head without hesitation. Issei notes even he was jealous of Kiba's cool moment.* Defeats Siegfried in their second match by disguising himself as one of his [[MesACrowd clones]] charging towards Siegfried.* Gains an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome in volume 12 [[spoiler:while using Issei's rampage as a giant man in an armor, he rescues the kids who are held captive by Jeanne.]]** Before that, he practically takes on Jeane, Georg, and Heracles ''while saving the Sitri group on his own.''* In the anime, during his fight with Kokabiel, he uses dual swords that the Fallen Angel blocks, mocking him about how weak he is. Kiba claims [[BadassBoast he's not done yet and produces a third sword]], ''and uses it with his'' '''teeth''', managing to make him bleed. For the dub, the moment is similarly awesome with Kokabiel taunting him 'Give up yet?', and Kiba responds with ''[[BigNever Never!]]'' before cutting the Fallen Angel.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rias ]]

* Her nickname is the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess]]. What did you expect? ** In the first volume, she kills three fallen angels. [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome OFF SCREEN.]]** In volume 6, she and Akeno get in an argument over who gets a date with Issei. When the enemy tries to interrupt, the girls deliver a twin OffHandBackHand for their troubles, taking out all three of the attackers at once.** [[She destroys everything BUT ''half of Grendel's face'' in volume 16! Grendel gets one for ''surviving that''.]]* In the anime, Rias killing off three fallen angels happens on-screen, and it is awesome: she kills all three at the same time with a single attack.** And then completes the set by vaporizing [[ManipulativeBitch Raynare]].** The first OVA shows us what happens when Issei uses Gift on Rias. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Damn...]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Asia ]]

* Being TheMedic, she doesn't have a lot of these, but the ones she does have are pretty sweet.* She normally stays pretty calm, regardless of the situation, but when [[BigBad Diodora]] insults Issei, she [[ArmorPiercingSlap slaps him across the face]].* In Volume 20, [[spoiler: Rizevim realizes he's hopelessly outmatched against Issei's new Diabolos Dragon form, and tries attack his family instead. Asia has none of this and activates Balance Breaker, which turns her into a BarrierWarrior who can block Rezevim's most powerful attacks, allowing Issei to continue the beatdown on him.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Akeno ]]

* She is Rias' [[ChessMotifs Queen]], and the daughter of a Fallen Angel. She is also a sadist.** Any use of her [[LightEmUp holy lightning]] qualifies.** The above-stated OffHandBackHand with Rias against three enemies at once. While having a CatFight with the latter.** Another one is her CombinationAttack with her recently-forgiven father against Loki.** Holy lightning ''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons dragons]]''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Azazel ]]

* What exactly did you expect from the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking leader of the fallen angels]] anyway?** In volume 4, Katerea has his arm wrapped around in tentacles and will blow him up if he doesn't get rid of it. The problem is that the tentacles themselves are invulnerable to damage. So what does he do? He ''rips out his arm'' and causes Katerea to get ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice.*** The fight itself was [[CurbStompBattle Azazel nonchalantly dodging and blocking Katarea's attacks, treating the activity as some sort of exercise.]] Also, he ''hacks off his arm without even flinching,'' before delivering the killing blow, then following it with a BondOneLiner.--> An arm is all you get at the cost of your life.** In volume 5, Azazel teaches Issei what it takes to become a first-rate pervert, subverting the usual HotSpringsEpisode cliches.** Going one-on-one against [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pluto]], ''the ultimate grim reaper''. Yes, [[CoolVersusAwesome a fallen angel versus a grim reaper]].* Azazel's entire quote in volume 20 when [[spoiler: the group is about to launch an operation to rescue Issei's parents]]:--> Understand this. That guy entered a domain that is not supposed to be entered; and with his shoes on as well. I will never forgive him. Defeat him. I permit it.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Gasper ]]

* He gets to show off his power at the climax of Volume 4, drinking dragon blood, allowing him to stop time and drains his enemies magic, allowing Issei to apply Dress Break on them. According to Rias, [[HolyShitQuotient this isn't even a taste of what he's fully capable of.]]* In Volume 12, once Georg tells Gasper that Issei died, he ''devours all of Georg's mists'' in anger.* ''Brutally killing'' [[spoiler: Marius Tepes in volume 16. To say he was pissed of what he did to Valerie is an understatement.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Xenovia ]]

* Using a combination of [[DualWielding Durandal and Ascalon]], she kills two of Diodora's Rooks via ''PillarOfLight''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Koneko ]]

* She gets one in volume 16 [[spoiler: after activating [[SuperMode Shirone mode]], and starts ''annihilating vampires'' who literally could not be killed thanks to the power of the Life Grail. She doesn't even need to attack; she just needs to touch them and they get burned.]]

[[/folder]][[folder: Other Characters]]!! [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The other characters]] (can't leave them out now, can't we?)* Vali [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping Kokabiel]] counts as one when the Gremory group at that time can't even ''faze the latter.''** Later, he goes one-on-one against Fenrir, [[KillTheGod a wolf that can kill a god]]. He wins ''and'' subdues it.* Odin's fight against a number of devils. He just casually taps his staff and they all die.* Sirzechs shows off how powerful the Power of Destruction is on a small scale instead of how Rias uses hers. He just ''puts a small ball of his power'' on Asmodeus mouth and ''kills him from the inside.''* Sona almost ''winning'' against Rias in their Rating Game when she takes advantage of the rules stacked against the Gremory group in her favor. She almost could've won too if it weren't for [[SpannerInTheWorks Issei's new ability]] [[HearingVoices Bilingual]].* Saji gets one for being able to keep a single thread alive and attached to Issei before getting taken out of the game counts one as well. To the point ''Odin'' praised him and was awarded the MVP of the game.** His biggest one so far is when he makes his BigDamnHeroes moment against Loki and his five mini dragons, encasing them ''all on his own''.* The original Son Wukong shows up right as Issei finishes pounding Cao Cao. He proceeds to level the rest of the Hero faction in seconds, and blocks the True Longinus, the strongest weapon in the series, with one finger. [[FlatWhat What.]]** [[CoolVersusAwesome Forget that, Balance Breaker to ''everybody''!]] [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny Free-for-all no rules, all out fights!]]* He may be a villain at this point, but Cao Cao going OneManArmy against ''an entire crew of angels, fallen angels, and devils while protecting both Georg and Samael'' counts as one. Take note, ''[[BadassNormal he's just a human being.]]'' And he was winning!* Sirzechs in Volume 12. Oh boy, making ''a god'' '''''cower in fear of him.''''' And it was ''freaking Hades too!''** His pal, Ajuka, also gets to be awesome in this volume and proving why he's TheRival to Sirzechs. He defeats ''all of the Old Satan Faction devils Siegfried was accompanying '''while sitting down in his chair.'''''*** To quote the MemeticBadass page for [[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Sho Minamimoto]], he will nuke you with ''pi''.* Any match versus Sairaorg will almost always end in a CurbStompBattle. This includes [[spoiler:the successor of Glasya-Labolas, Kiba-Rossweiss-Xenovia team up (though Kiba did get to cut his arm but got regenerated thanks to a Phoenix tear), and Heracles.]] It's always awesome.* Vali's Juggernaut [[spoiler:Over]]Drive. ''Biggest'' {{HSQ}} form he's ever pulled off. [[spoiler:Pluto, who could fight Azazel evenly, gets ''curb-stomped'' by getting himself divided into nothingness.]]* Great Red's DynamicEntry to the Underworld with a revived Issei accompanying Ophis with him. Put this into perspective: there's a war between TheAlliance and the Khaos Brigade going on with the latter having one monster who really cannot be defeated because it can instantly regenerate its wounds when suddenly ''the entire sky cracks up'' and out comes Great Red with ''both sides'' not knowing what it's even there for seeing as they all know is that he's usually chilling at the Dimension Gap.* While not as awesome as Great Red's appearance (and really, [[PowerLevels what can?]]), volume 14 shows us [[CoolVersusAwesome magicians versus devils.]]** Sona's tactics in the battles.* Sirzechs ''[[CurbStompBattle curb stomping]] [[TheHero Issei]] in their mock battle!'' And this was when he could afford to do some silly poses in a silly SuperSentai suit!* Grendel gets one when he [[spoiler: ''survives'' an Ascalon-powered CCD equipped Issei punch!]] However it's implied that he had something to even survive it in the first place.* Rizevim. ''Anything'' from him is a moment of awesome in his first appearance which is volume 16.** [[spoiler: ''Personally'' drove the vampires to near extinction.]]** [[spoiler: ''[[NoSell No Sold]]'' every single [[SuperpowerLottery Sacred Gear]]. That means, no CCQ Issei, no Juggernaut Overdrive Vali, no crazy attacks from Gasper's Balor.]]** [[spoiler: Wants to challenge ''both Great Red and Chichigami''. By releasing the powerful ''[[NumberOfTheBeast 666 Beast]]''.]]* The reason why [[spoiler: GodIsDead in this series. He had a ''DyingMomentOfAwesome'' by sealing [[NumberOfTheBeast 666 Beast]], a being on par with ''Great Red'', ''then'' fought while exhausted and ''still managed'' to gain the upper hand in the war till he died.]]* Bennia and Loup Garou's first on-screen fight is them holding back ''an entire army of vampires'', allowing the Occult Research Club to move on.* I have three words for you: ''[[spoiler: Malebolge Vritra Promotion]]''.* The first episode of the third season showcases what Tannin can do against the crew. Let's just say them getting curb stomped is an {{Understatement}}. And according to Ddraig, he wasn't even using ''a tenth'' of his power when he tested them.** The dub takes it UpToEleven as Ddraig instead says he wasn't even using a ''thousand'' of his power.* Belial's entire [[ThePlan plan]] [[spoiler: as payback to Rizevim and to avenge his cousin.]]* Issei's mom walks up to Belial (the strongest non-Maou devil who beat the crap out of Issei moments ago) and ''bitchslaps'' him across the face for what he put Ise through. * Fafnir (the panty-sniffing pervert dragon) is very fond of Asia. So much so, in fact, that when Rizevim slaps her, he attacks him in anger. Between the fireballs and vomiting [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Gate of Babylon]] style attacks at Rizeviem, he gets taken out by Lilith. This apparently puts him in a coma. Except not. Fafnir had instead invaded Rizevim's dreams, murdering him over and over again in nightmares and turning him from a Joker-esque InvincibleVillain to a tired and scared old man. Who he [[EatenAlive eats alive]] immediately upon returning to the physical world. [[KarmicDeath Can't get more karmic than that]].[[/folder]]